After what feels like an entire year of fruitless effort and unending heartbreak, the turbulent ups and downs, the many times when it looked like they might never make it, the Miami cHeat have finally broken through.

This isn't merely a story. It's a saga. An odyssey. An epic tale of unwavering bravery and endurance in the face of staggering inequity and stunning odds.

Said Miami coach Erik Spoelstra: "We had to go through a lot of adversity. That struggle that we went through in March, where we lost five straight -- all of them close games, where we didn't execute down the stretch and weren't able to close games out -- that helped us. As painful as that was, we had to go through that fire together to be able to gain the confidence where we could be successful now in the postseason."

Normally, when human beings walk through fire, they get burned to a smoldering crisp. But not these cHeat. Oh no. Truly, from the ashes of doubt and hate, never has a Phoenix metaphor been more personified!

Added Wade: "It just seems like yesterday we were coming together as a new unit, and the Miami organization decided we needed to get away and (have) it just be about us and not let any outside distractions get in. And it was just about us."

It really does seem like only yesterday, doesn't it?

But the truth is this story stretches all the way back to last October. Nature did not create mortal man to survive the eight months of agonized waiting these cHeat have endured. They are more god than man. When the sun's light has faded and human life has been nearly extinguished from the desolate surface of a dying world, still shall the minstrels sing of the great light that shone forth from the asses of these men on this holy day!

You want pain? You want suffering? Look at the soul-wrenching anguish LeBron experienced when Derrick Rose ruthlessly swiped at the air in front of him:

Fortunately, the officials saw fit to reward LeBron's Job-like suffering with a foul before bloody stigmata could form on his mighty wrists. Truly is he the Chosen One. And, like a Messiah, he is met with unreasoning hate.

How much longer must this be so?

Said King Crab: "What's today's date -- the 26th? I say we've got about a month left. About a month left of continued hate. We'll see what happens next year."

No one has been more spiteful toward the cHeat than Sir Charles Barkley, Lord of Hate and Dark Despair, Weaver of Shadow and Spreader of Deceit.

Said Barkley: "These athletes today are all wussified. I've been saying LeBron's been the best player in the league for three years. And I say one thing criticizing The Decision, and I get a phone call from Nike saying why don't I like LeBron? It's interesting how this (expletive) works. These groups today, if you don't say 100 percent positive about their guy or their team, they overreact."

Don't believe his lies.

If you don't think this is divine providence, then you need to go buy a dictionary, look up "divine" and "providence," and then jam them together. From ESPN Stats and Information:

Including the regular season, the Chicago Bulls were 53-0 when leading by double-digits in the fourth quarter. So, with only 3:14 remaining in Game 5, and the Bulls leading by 12 points a win appeared all but certain.

The Miami Heat had other plans though, finishing the game on an 18-3 run to advance to the NBA Finals for the second time in franchise history.

According to 10,000 simulations done by Accuscore.com, the Heat had just a 1 percent chance of winning the game with 3:14 remaining.

Just like it's been all season, the "Big Three" for Miami were at the center of it all, scoring 69 of the team's 83 points, including the last 33.

It wasn't all good for the trio though; through three quarters they combined for as many field goals as turnovers (13).

The main culprit was Dwyane Wade, who committed nine turnovers to tie his playoff career-high and the franchise playoff record.

However, along with LeBron James, the pair came alive scoring 22 points in the final frame, while connecting on their last six field goal attempts, three of which came from behind the 3-point line.

LeBron isn't just a Majestic King and Basketball Messiah, mind you, he's a prophet. Remember his sage Tweet: "Crazy. Karma is a b****. Gets you every time. Its [sic] not good to wish bad on anybody. God sees everything!"

Karma was indeed bitchy to Derrick Rose, who pulled off the crime of the century by stealing LeBron's 2011 MVP award. In retribution, Karma punked Rose into 9-for-29 shooting and 5 turnovers in the biggest game of his life. Fittingly, Chicago's last shot of the season was Rose getting stuffed by James on the game's final play:

Said Rose: "At the end, it's all me. Turnovers, missed shots, fouls. The series is over."

Karma also benched Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah for the entire fourth quarter. Would anyone have ever guessed that Keith Bogans would see more PT in winning time than Boozer and Noah? But it was written in the Book of Time.

Probably by LeBron.

This wasn't just a victory for LeBron, or the cHeat, or the city of Miami, or the long-suffering cHeat fans who have struggled though a five-year championship drought, it was a victory for the American way of life. In a fast food culture full of armchair cynics who eschew personal accountability and demand instant gratification, these cHeat can be a moral exemplar, a throwback if you will to an earlier time in which hard work and perseverance really can pay off over time if you just stick with something and put the needs of other ahead of your own.

Joakim Noah, quote machine: Three words: "Hollywood as hell."

Pat Riley, quote machine: "You can see that we have two, three players that have no fear. Chris steps up there and makes two free throws that he's got to make. LeBron and Dwyane struggling a little bit with their game most of the night, but they made some big, big shots.That's what it's all about."

Dwyane Wade, quote machine: "We don't even know what happened. I'm not going to lie to you and say we do. I can't remember all the plays. I just remember the timeout, and Coach just looked at us and said, 'We've done this before. We've been in games where we've gone on a 12-0 or 14-0 run. Just believe.' We came out of that timeout believing if we get stops, we can give ourselves an opportunity. That's all I remember."

Taj Gibson, quote machine: "[Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau] was basically saying his thing -- 'score, stop, score.' We had a good lead. It was all about getting stops and who could close it out. But then we really couldn't get any stops and the momentum grew."

Kurt Thomas, quote machine: "They hit some tough shots, step-back 3s, runners, you can't take anything away from them. They know how to put the ball in the hole and they showed it. I don't think I've ever experienced that. It seemed like they just hit one big shot after another. I thought we had a nice lead there, and it just slipped away. We let a golden opportunity get away."

Ronnie Brewer, quote machine: "We wanted [James] to take contested 2s, contested 3s. I guess you have to limit him but he stepped up and he willed his team to victory."

That (fake) James foul wholly encapsulates the reason I don't put forth any significant effort into watching professional sports. If the choice is between watching NBA finals game 7 and going for a nice bike ride on the lake shore...the bike path wins, hands down.

...yet, ironically, I absolutely love basketball and I keep tuning in from time to time only to be left even more jaded after the completely predicable fiasco filled with fake tough guys, over the top celebrations and utterly boneheaded plays which violate every known basketball tenet known to man. With that said, watching Rose this season was a real treat. No fake attention whore antics, just hard effort play. He was the same way in high school and I hope he stays that way. If for no other reason other than my dumbass will be tuning in again from time to time because I, apparently, am a glutton for punishment.

I agree with kazam92 that it read more bitter than humorous. The Chicago Bulls deserve massive credit for their accomplishments this season. All of those losses were close games. Rose is young, and was playing against two of the best perimeter defenders in the game, and his second option is Carlos Boozer. Its a testament to that organization that they made it that far.

The sad thing is, this is just giving more weight to Miami's Big Three's decision to posse up. Celtics get three superstars - Win a championship and make another Finals. Lakers get another legit super star - make three finals, win two. Now the Heat are going to the Finals. I can't see this trend not continuing with next summer's big free agent class.

That said, this is Basketbawful, and some mention of the Bulls disastrous play-calling down the stretch would have been warranted. Heat's Hero Ball was annoying too. It just happened to work this time.

Anyone care to guess what the average + margin (it won't be a negative) of FTs per game in favour of the Heat will be in the Finals? My guess is 13. I also predict Cuban will suffer an anurism by game 5.

Funny how statisticians never calculate the odds of a team collapsing in the fourth quarter when their two starting bigs are benched with fouls. Rose may be the brains and scoring punch of that team, but Noah is the heart. Him being out virtually guaranteed a loss. What was really astonishing was that the Heat took so long to make their run. It was really a matter of the Heat playing poorly, and not the Bulls collapsing.

Dallas stands no chance, because the Hand of Stern has reached down and touched the Heat, thus blessing them with immortality, large penises, and an infinite supply of ticky tacky touch fouls to send them to the line. Lo! Their opponents will repeatedly foul out, gnashing their teeth in futility. It has been ordained by the marketing department of the NBA, in collaboration with ESPN.

Oh they were ALL terrible shots, but you don't exactly look for complex plays down 12 with 3 minutes left. Like the awe that we were all in was just astounding. Hugging and high fiving strangers. Garbage all over the road.

Quick question. Did TNT show the Miami road rally at all? Because on the big screen, when there was a timeout, they would cut to some T-Mobile promo or some Heat Dancer show so I couldn't tell if the crowd being shown was TNT's work or just the local guys

and admittedly, everyone was laughing their asses off on the LeBron flop. We knew it was pretty terrible.

Oh cut the crap Wormboy. They weren't benched with fouls. They were benched because Boozer is a failure and Noah was ineffective on offense (pretty much the whole series). Read any bulls blog. All of them are lamenting "Oh WHY didn't we play Kurt Thomas more!" And he was solid to be fair. They could've used his jumper earlier.

And cut the fucking crap about the fouls. In the 4th, the only questionable call was the Wade and 1 layup. Did the refs make Derrick Rose miss that 2nd free throw?

Miami played like absolute horseshit in that game. I felt like I wasted my whole day going up to Miami to see a poor showing. I admit that. They should have been down by 25 in the third the way they played. But they won. And even me being the cynic I am, I can't see them losing to Dallas right now. They aren't the same level defensively as Boston, Chicago, and Miami. The reverse of this is though, that they have many shot makers.

I think I can understand this if it seems a little bit more bitter than usual. All of the hard work that the Bulls went through this season meant nothing in the end, because three really good players decided it was easier to win together than fail alone. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

The thing about the Heat is that unlike the Lakers and Celtics, who made similar moves in a much classier manner, this seems to be a one-way deal. The Lakers gave up Marc Gasol and expiring contracts to Memphis, and the Grizzlies are now better off for it (lasted longer than the Lakers this postseason). Boston gave up a ton of picks to get their trio, which gave Oklahoma City a chance to build a good team, and Minnesota a chance to draft 5 million point guards.

Even with the 1st and 4th picks (however questionable they got those picks...) I don't see Cleveland getting close to the success they had, and Toronto may never recover.

I wonder if Stu Jackson is going to present the trophy this year. The only part of the Finals I may watch is when David Stern has to hand this thing to Mark Cuban or LeBron James.

The main culprit was Dwyane Wade, who committed nine turnovers to tie his playoff career-high and the franchise playoff record. Coincidentally, Oliver Miller also had 9 turnovers last night. Apple turnovers that is.WV: unFlu- lacking in the qualities of a true (street) baller. Derrick Rose was very unFlu during the fourth quarters of the ECF.

kazam, if you're looking for reasons the Heat will win, I'd focus less on Xs and Os and more on the NBA's marketing division, ESPN, where right now their front page is asking the questing: is LeBron the best player of all time? (well ESPN, you write the refs' paychecks, why don't you tell us?)

When did Basketbawful turn into Basketbitter? Then again, being bitter is awful, so that works.

I have been preaching to no end this whole season that a collective team effort > 3 superstars + the rest. But no, the Nazgul go to the Finals (thanks Chok(e)ago!). I hope the Mavs keep their hot streak going and rain down 3's on the Heat, just to show that TEAMS WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS!

It never felt like it was a sure Bulls win last night. Every time a superstar can't make a shot in the crunch time he gets criticized for not being clutch. Last night Bulls fans in the arena witnessed Lebron's clutchness. Lemme say one thing, I hate Lebron and everything he represents. BUT big athletes go for the dagger. Lebron's game tying 3 was a dagger. He didn't go for a quick two. Same for Dirk against OKC two nights ago.

Also throughout the series Thibs was too late to react to the turnarounds. Many times I found myself saying man P-Jax would've taken a timeout here, especially game 2 loss at home. I'm not saying Spo outcoached him but Thibs def has to make better judgements/decisions.

Boozer: what a waste of $$$. Korver and Noah should go too.

D-Wade played like Miami's Gasol during the whole series. He better get his act together. Miami is slowly becoming Lebron's team. Wonder what you guys think about that.

And Derrick Rose..he's hell of a player but he needs to get rid of that not looking so good low percentage floaters, under the shoulder shots etc and work more on the jumpers.

Having said that i think Heat has a better momentum than Dallas. They def smelled the blood. Miami in 5.

If you think JJ Barea is going to carve up this Miami defense, and more importantly think he's going to be the key to the Mavs beating them... wow. None of the teams in the West have a defense like Miami's, and I look forward to a lot more bitter & really ridiculous posts like the one from today as the Finals progress.

And while we're on the subject, I do find it very funny to suggest that Miami doesn't play as a team. If anything, top rated defenses are always a result of teamwork. Just because they have 3 guys who are good enough to carry their entire offense doesn't mean they don't play as a team. Teams hide their players' deficiencies. You name me one other team that would have Joel Anthony and Mike Bibby as a starter and not be burned on both offense and defense? We all know how much of a defensive genius Carlos Boozer is, yet the so called "team" that is the Chicago Bulls could not hide him on D at all. On the other side, Bibby was on Rose a lot and he was bottled up. Tell me who's the better "team" then. You don't make it to the friggin NBA Finals if you're not able to play as a team, ask Kobe & Shaq or Michael Jordan.

"D-Wade played like Miami's Gasol during the whole series. He better get his act together. Miami is slowly becoming Lebron's team."

I think the whole "this person's team" idea is stupid, but nonetheless it was always clear to me that Lebron would be the Heat's best player. I was surprised how many people felt otherwise when the Nazgul first assembled.

My God, don't go to ESPN.com, LeBron cHeats his way into the Finals for the 2nd time and he's Michael Jordan! If you didn't understand why the cHeat winning was so bad before, now you know. Jesus Christ... GO MAVS!

On that everybody-hates-the-Heat-notion: Miami fans (and players) seem to be a bit oversensitive there in my opinion. LeBron mentions the hate against him all the time, yet his HEAT-jersey is the NBA's best selling jersey this season.

I'm picking Miami in 6, for many of the reasons cited above, and for the old adage "offense wins games, defense wins championships."

Dallas's defense is nowhere near the calibur of the Bulls or Celtics, so the Mavs will have to outscore the Heat to have a chance to win.

As far as this past series, the refs didn't cost the Bulls anything. There were two bad calls in the game (the Rose "swipe" foul and the Gibson tech) but the refs didn't put the 3 pointers in the hoop for the Heat, and didn't make the MVP miss the free throw.

I don't recall the Coach of the Year making any subs in the 4th quarter the last two games (excepting for the end of the 4th in game 4 where he tried to get more shooting on the court for the final play).

Thibs should have definitely got Noah back in to try to help curtail the run.

Chicago has too many one-way players; meaning Boozer and Korver give you offense (supposedly), but are huge liabilities on defense. The opposite for Brewer, Bogans and Noah. Too much inconsistency from game to game while going up against talent like the Heat have.

@Stockton, sadly in Euro soccer games, players dive all the time and nothing ever happens about it, unless they get caught doing it twice (only at the time, not in retrospect and without replays), then they get a red card and miss a game.

I was surprised with Lebron though. For all his faults, he didn't seem like the kind of guy who would do that sort of thing. I was watching it over and over trying to find anything - did Rose poke the ball into Lebron's face? Did he flinch and it looked worse than it was? The wink isn't all that telling, but it didn't help for sure.

The key for Miami in the finals will be making sure that Jason Terry doesn't score 25. Within reason, Dirk can get what he wants, but its Terry, and once in a while Marion, who wins games for Dallas. It'll be fun seeing if Jason Kidd can keep up with Wade, too.

BTW, the Gasol/Wade comparison is completely off-base. Gasol played like utter crap, the entire playoffs. Wade KILLED Boston, struggled a little with Chicago, but showed up when it mattered most, both in game 4 and game 5.

What has happened to this blog? The Bulls totally collapsed in a historic fashion last night, but today they don't get skewered in a Basketbawful way today because Matt is a Bulls fan so instead we get this bitter rant about Miami? I hate the Heat too, but this whole entry was just whiny as hell. You gotta be fair, if the Heat had lost to the Bulls in 5 youd have totally shredded them like you just did with that Chokelahoma thing, but since it was the other way around instead you were just whiny and bitter. This blog is supposed to be funny. Quit being such a homer thats what your Bulls blog is for.

#DrewIn some leagues (in England they take fair-play seriously), the TV images are used to punish players after the game.If a guy is caught on tape hitting an opponent, cursing racist words or taking some dives (IF missed by the ref during the game), he will get a disciplinary punishment.

@Kazam: Horseshit? Horseshit is Wade's career, which is built on several points a night that are pure gifts from heaven, from the foul line on fouls that wouldn't be called for any other player. I've seen no other player in my many years of watching NBA who so consistently get dubious calls. Jordan was nowhere close, and he played with FAR more contact.

But at least Wade no longer plays by throwing himself into a crowd of people to draw the foul. But can we really give him credit for that, since he probably stopped doing so because he got hurt too often?

But he still expects the ticky tackies in his favor, and throws mini fits whenever he doesn't get them, like a petulant brat.

Granted, part of that is an indictment of the country club perimeter game league that Stern is trying to create. Wade just happens to be the most conspicuous beneficiary.

As for Miami playing like shit, when elite teams do so it is often a testament to the defense being played on them. However, Chicago's schemes fell apart at the end.

"I try my damndest to be civil but kiss my ass Blizzard. The national media hates Miami. But they love Miami and want them to win?"

Ah, there's our true dose of horseshit. This is why the ESPN devoted a permanent space on their basketball division to the Heat? Unprecedented in my experience. I'm surprised the "Big Three" aren't worn out by all the press fellatio. I keep expected announcer to sprint onto the court and drop to their knees.

FYI, attention doesn't mean criticism. Yes, the Heat have been playing under a microscope. They ASKED for this, by creating a non-stop media circus, and acting like Russell's Celtics had be reincarnated in Miami in July 2010. And they did this AFTER LeBron's douche-o-rama. The Heat DEMANDED that they be treated like princes, after they clearly violated league rules by fixing their free agency years beforehand. And most of the press has been of the nature of "Oh my, the Heat are so DREAMY!" Isolated critics are hardly a gang. And playing under a microscope is NOT playing with constant criticism. Riley intentionally did this to generate revenues, and he got what he wanted. Forget not the Showtime Lakers. But at least those guys had the veneer of joy of the game, while these guys are "global products" in uniform.

Oh, did you forget about players calling themselves "global products?"

Inquiring minds want to know: is Dweeane still one of the 100 most beautiful people alive? Maybe not so much, now that events have shown that he is just another pro athlete dick.

"Should they win the Finals, this would be like the Star Wars saga ending with The Empire Strikes Back. Feh."

So true.

As for the officiating paranoia, it's being predicted because the biggest NBA officiating fiasco of recent history is the 2006 Finals, and Wade's "Immaculate Foul." It even dwarfs the infamous Lakers-Kings and Lakers-Blazers fiascos. Usually officiating conspiracies demand that one invoke the vague "influence." Rarely does one see the game just handed over. What was striking was that it literally crushed the Mavericks' spirit. They didn't fold so much as be demoralized. Other teams faced with the same thing (Pistons, Spurs) have persevered and won.

Of all his owners, Stern loathes Cuban 100x more than any of the others. Has Cuban atoned enough by being inconspicuous and silent this year? I don't know. But if Stern is still resentful, there will be at least one game where the difference is clearly made by refs.

Spab has it right. Every other team had to take their lumps. Truthfully, the laughs I got from this blog about the Celtics' collapse actually made it a little easier to swallow. It's too bad that we couldn't have had a similar post for the Bulls too.

The national media may generally hate Miami (Whitlock is a great example), but ESPN does not. Arguing otherwise is folly ... in fact, between their role in The Douchision, The Heat Index, Henry Abbott etc., they go out of their way to celebrate the Heat. And I believe the original point blizzard made was that ESPN loves the Heat. That's hard to dispute.

Overall, this may get ratings, but a Heat win will not be good for the overall health of the league.

I stopped reading Whitlock after he decided to make race an issue in everything. Didn't know he was hating on the Heat.

All I know is that while their flaws have been well documented, they received far more attention and praise from the national media than even the 2 time defending champs did. But then again, whenever they came on Sportscenter or websites, I turned it off, so maybe I missed them getting lamblasted.

The Unknown Miner:Help us Obi-Wan Nowitzki, you're our only hope.chris:Should they win the Finals, this would be like the Star Wars saga ending with The Empire Strikes Back. Feh.AnacondaHL:TBQH, Dirk looks more like Qui-gon... wait, NOOOOOO!

Barea is R2 obviously.

With talk turning to Star Wars anyway, I can't sit on these Finals Poster mockups I threw together any longer:

Dallas HAS played a team that is physical on defense and has multiple superstars/stars (Kobe/Bynum/Odom/Gasol/Artest, anyone?).

On the other hand, Miami hasn't yet played a team that scores as freely as Dallas. Philly (no scorers at all), Chicago (one-man-show), and Boston (old, slow, soft at center) all were seriously limited offensive teams. Dallas is not.

Furthermore, Dallas has been fantastic on the road (5 road wins in 7 tries this postseason). Given that the series will begin in Miami, I think Dallas will be able to come out and play loose with the pressure squarely on MIA to win their first two home games.

Finally, Dallas has been pounding teams with their bench all post-season, while MIA's bench has been god-awful with a couple of exceptions (James Jones for one game, Haslem for one half of a game).

As an aside, Dallas has been and continues to be the underdog in each stage of the playoffs, and they have done nothing but silence people who pick against them.

Not only do I WANT Dallas to win, I am pretty confident that they SHOULD win the series.

When all else fails, and the team you dont want to be winning is winning, blamethe refs and Sterns' "magic touch". Would the "magic touch" of Stern let the Spurs win four titles last decade? Would the Stern "magic touch" have stoped the Kobe-LeBron match up we were all expecting th past two years? Would the Stern "magic touch" have sent the Knicks home in the first round?

Yeah that's a good point. Shouldn't some people (*cough* Boozer *cough*) be getting some WOTN's for game 5? I would be quite disappointed if certain players (*ahem* BOOZER *ahem*) didn't get their comeuppance.

Just a thought: wasn't it Haslem's grit that made the heat pull together here? He's the guy I've always respected, the kind of guy that is on every championship team. I thought he was out through the playoffs, and it's a blessing for the Heat that he returned. When he went down I predicted no ring for the Heat without him.

The National Media is not defined by ESPN.com and Sportscenter. Its defined by the most prominent writers and analysts in America. Seeing Michele Beadle menstruate on TV, Ric Bucher telling the world Derrick Rose played amazing this series, and Bill Simmons paint his glorious Ubuntu Celtics as the good fucking guys outweighs some petty ass blog.

And you continue to insult the player who has probably usurped Dan Marino in Florida sports lore. The fuck is your beef with him? His free throws are all a fucking farce right? He isn't already one of the 50 best players of all time right? Without fouls, he has no career according to your backwards ass logic

I really don't care to defend fair LeBron critiques as much because frankly, I've only watched him as a fan for a year. But you don't fuck with Wade. I will write titangraphs for days

With the fortress of the Mamba in ruins, and the upstart Thunder defeated, Dirk the Barbarian resumed his wanderings. In time his jumpshot won him his own championship as was foretold, and there he would sit in his great throne, brow troubled for thoughts of his kingdom.......

Sol Orwell - Uh, that kinda proves the point. At the beginning of the season the Heat were not at all a good looking team, both on paper and through November, and no reasonable guess should have been made to pick them to win it all. The fact that almost half of ESPN picked them off the bat is way above reasonable non-cumming average.

I don't think it's fair to say that the Heat were a bad looking team on paper when the year started.

On paper, the Heat were always going to have Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller. Both of those guys got hurt early on, and the big 3 took a while to mesh.

Now that we're finally getting to see this team play together at full strength, I think it validates all of the people who picked us to win at the start of the year. This is the team that they were picking to win the title - Not the Heat team with the bench that didn't have Miller or UD.

Yes, one man was stopped. Chicago is a great defensive team as long as Noah is on the court. Tell me what their offensive options are? Really, think about them. Aren't you being a bit premature saying that Miami is amazing? Look at the points AK Dave made. Every team in the East is pretty deeply flawed on paper, including Miami. But Miami is least so. The return of Haslem was critical (he's one of those "glue" guys, and I love his game). I'm not sure that is enough.

I really don't care to defend fair LeBron critiques as much because frankly, I've only watched him as a fan for a year. But you don't fuck with Wade. I will write titangraphs for days

Whatev. Wade has a great game, Hall of Fame caliber, but the 2006 Finals is MORE tainted than Lakers-Blazers and Lakers-Kings. That's saying something. That was the most obvious "Hand of Stern" series. Granted, the whole series wasn't thrown. But I think there's something to a team being psychologically crushed by feeling like a game is totally STOLEN from them by the powers that be. I think this is the case for the 06 Mavs. Collapse? Yes. Totally outplayed? No.

And yes, Wade used to literally throw himself into other players to draw a foul. Until he ****ed up his shoulder doing so, and realized that he would ruin his career if he kept it up. But he had won a title already, so it worked, eh?

Oh, and apropos of nothing, Wade was NEVER appropriate for any "most beautiful people" list. Dude is funny looking. And phonetically his name should be pronounced Dwee-ane, proving that his mom is stupid. :P

I'd pick Dallas in this series, but Miami has home court. Given how much Wade and LeBron rely on home court for foul shots, I have to pick Miami. But I think it will be close. 6 or 7 games.

Then again, I could be wrong. Sometimes a team "solves" another team. That clearly happened in the Heat-Bulls series, where the Heat figured out how to impact Rose. You can say that the Heat stopped them; I'd counter that running an iso of Rose against LeBron in the last three plays of regulation is pretty stupid (game 4), and qualifies as self-stoppage. I think Thibs needs to think hard about his offense, because it's very one-dimensional, and he was exposed in this post season as lacking some chops on O. Plus, we're talking Miami beating a team whose #2 scorer is Booz (worse than Bosh, the weakest of the big three), and #3 is Deng. 'Nuf said? Also, I think we all agree that Rose is an amazing player, but the trigger on his MVP was pulled too early. And Thibs is a great defensive coach, but who was the coach of the year in 2009? Yeah, Mike Brown. Great defensive schemes are essential for championships and do really well in the regular season, but you need coaching flexibility to win against other elite teams. Spo showed it (perhaps with some advice from Riles?) and Thibs did not.

Oh, and on another note can I once again remark on how much I loath the 2-3-2 Finals format? Idiot NBA. They're not taking stagecoaches back and forth, you dumbasses.

So how is it possible that the Bulls can get their asses handed to them in 5, serve up one of the biggest fails of all time..... and today's post is all about skewering Miami?

It's cause the guys who write for this blog only write negative things about the players/teams they hate, but the teams they like always get the benefit of the doubt and get a free pass. BAsketbawful: where hypocrisy happens.

Beyond the fact that we've been over many times now why the Heat are terrible for basketball, Bawful lives in the Chicago area and has his own Bulls blog on ESPN's TrueHoop network. What the hell do you people honestly expect?

Are people seriously surprised that Bawful wrote this post? The guy has a blog about the Bulls and is, I assume, a Bulls fan. Anyone not living in the Miami area was rooting for the Bulls last night, and to write a negative article about how the one Bulls star couldn't beat the Heat's 3 is something that nobody wants to read.

I'm a Lakers fan so I know a bit about my team copping some slack on this site, but if you don't like it, the doors not far behind you.

Now that is a reasonable post wormboy. And if you feel this strongly, just rewatch the games. They're all on youtube. I actuslly watched 1 to see how Haslem defended Dirk back then and if the reputation was warrented

Dan, if memory serves, bawful likes the bulls, pacers (hometown), suns, and celtics. Are the bulls his no 1 or something?

@Spab and others... give me a break. If you are at all familiar with Basketbawful then you know all 30 teams have been healthily bashed at one time or another (generally - many many many times). Don't act like you witnessed some breach of integrity or something because Miami is being ragged on instead of Chicago.

And I'm pretty sure Bawful and the other writers never claimed 100% objectivity as a goal (though in most cases they are quite objective), after all this is a humor/entertainment site! Stop being such whiners.

David: 1) Joel Anthony status - still bad. 2) Carlos Arroyo. 3) Big Z, Howard, Eddie House, James Jones and Jerry Stackhouse as fillers. 4) Injuries (making it pretty easy to say they weren't getting top overall seed). 5) Chalmers, unproven, inconsistent, and later in the season, never given a proper chance to develop. 6) Obvious questions about the Big 3's individual play styles needing to be re-worked to fit together.

This is pretty much the definition of being not good (enough) on paper, to pick them to win it all. And they said it themselves, they said "we have a plan, to get things together by January" which even that was delayed by more injuries. Play styles significantly shifted, both individually and the team, offense and defense.

But they did it. By April, I thought it was clear they were making the Finals, like I said all along. The sad thing is, so many will use Ends Justifies the Means arguments and whine about easy modes and super teams being put together last summer, when that's all just "cognitive bias", if I may borrow that term. Only ESPN has the nice montage showing the progression of their season, but they're so covered in Heat cum that they can't be taken seriously anymore.

And of course if they fail, it will be "why couldn't they get it done FAIL" arguments.

And of course if Dallas loses, the QQ will be just as glorious.

So yea, I'm not looking at who's going to win it anymore. I'm looking forward to seeing who'll lose.

So this is how "all in" feels. If the Mavs lose, none of this postseason was worth it. Here's where MFFL takes on its Sisyphean slant. I can't shake the awful feeling that the boulder is about to roll down the hill.

I hate the "easy mode" argument because coming together to form a great team actually represents so many positive virtues that pundits normally love.

All three of them had to sacrifice a certain amount of money, ego, and stats to make this thing work. A lot of people didn't think LeBron in particular could ever suppress his ego enough to handle not being the clear #1 guy on his team.

Also, it's not as if Bosh and LeBron didn't first try to get it done themselves. Each spent 7 years trying to win without another consistent all star on their team. They put in their time alone.

Over the last 30 years, almost every NBA title team has had multiple hall of famers on it. All of them have had multiple perennial all stars.

By joining Derrick Rose / Bosh in Chicago or Dwyane Wade / Bosh in Miami, LeBron was getting himself the same type of help that Jordan, Bird, and Magic had. All three of those guys played with two other hall of famers.

To me, the hatred against the big three always boils down to -

1) Rage against LeBron for how he was a super-dick when doing the actual decision, ripping Cleveland's heart out on national TV.

2) Intense fear that their favorite team is going to be clubbed over the head by these guys for the foreseeable future.

I don't know, I don't like the Heat, and I definitely don't like Lebron... but on the other hand I've never had any qualms with them deciding to play together. In fact I think its kind of ridiculous that people want to degrade their legacies or say they are playing on "easy mode" or whatever else.

When superstars are on middling or not quite good enough teams we all scream about them needing help, but god forbid they go out and look for that help themselves! And sure, it's fine to have really good teammates - just not TOO good! That's basically the attitude I see, and it's silly.

Fans send completely conflicting messages - they want their players to sacrifice for the team and be team players, but they also want their superstars to be "the man." People are fine with GMs orchestrating trades to build a better team, and we are fine discussing these trades as if we are discussing commodities and not human beings... but when players decide to seek out a better team via free agency they are villains/cheats/playing on easy mode? It just doesn't make sense to me.

Now, if you think its bad for the NBA... I'm open to that argument, but I'm not open to the "ruined legacies/cheats/easy mode/can't get it done on their own" stuff.

Obviously everything is all about opinions here, but I think you can't overlook the fact that Miami can only be judged against the teams that it played - it won four straight against the top seeded team in the league. If the Bulls were such a one-man team, how'd they get the number 1 seed? Obviously dudes stepped up throughout the season, where were they?

Sorta been washed over here, from what I can tell, but the Blazers are apparently trying to get Brandon Roy to RETIRE! Talk about calling a mulligan...

@AnacondaHL and @Wormboy - I'm no ESPN analyst, but hell I thought the Heat were gonna win it all too (based on not just those 3, but Udonis and Miller ... seriously, Miller is madly underrated). The point is even with all the shit talk about cheating and nazguls (actually a hilarious nickname), not even 50% of the analysts thought they would win it. And to say that Lebron & co are not working hard ("easy" way out) is rather ridiculous.

At the same time, where is the bawful post on the Bulls' meltdown? I need my fix.

Ugh, can we at least wait until they win before we stop hating the Heat and rewrite history in their favor? It's sad times as righteous Heat detractors start cracking and their frontrunner fans become more emboldened.

Caleb, I think the stuff you mentioned garners disrespect. People don't hate them for that.

They hate them (mostly LeBron) for the arrogance, dickery, stupid public gaffes via twitter, and then damage control apologies that sound like they were worded by PR flaks. They hate them for being products rather than people.

And for what it's worth, I was a fairly strong Bulls fan (I left Illinois in 1984), but I never had any illusions about Jordan: the man was/is a dick. In fact, if you look at anybody who is extremely cutthroat-competitive, you will probably find an asshole. Most of that wasn't evident during his prime, but it sort of stands to reason, right?

Maybe Bron is a victim of the digital age, when narcissistic pro athletes routinely blow their feet off metaphorically because they share things they didn't. But, as we assess James and Wade in a era with no hand checks or hard fouls, which makes their lives WAY easier relative to Jordan, likewise we assess their personal lives in the same way, at a time when it is doubtlessly harder. If the one is true, so is the other, neh?

Maybe you're just using hyperbole on the internet, but I think it's kind of silly to "hate" anyone just for having a big ego.

The decision was a superd!ck move, we get it. And yes, Bron has shown that he has a huge ego in the past.

But the dude has never broken any laws and has been one of the most unselfish stars we have in terms of his playstyle on the court. There are many players more hate-worthy than him.

Also, if he's going to get skewered around here for being egotistical in the past, he should also get credit for how gracious he's been throughout these playoffs. He's been very complimentary of the celtics, the bulls, and today waved off any comparison between him and Jordan.

As for the rest of the team, I can't really think of anything that Wade, Bosh, or the others have done or said that's worth raging about this year.

I'm sure someone will bring up the celebration in Miami that happened after we signed the three of them.

To those people, I'll just remind you that that celebration wasn't for the rest of the nation. We did it for Miami and our fans.

That was a happy day and we had a right to throw a rally in celebration of it to get the town pumped up about the coming year. If anyone chose to be offended by it, that's their problem.

There's lots of good reasons to hate and root against the Miami Heat. The fact that the Nazgul chose a joke of a basketball city like Miami to win their "not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5, not 6, not 7 championships" didn't help their Q rating either. Make no mistake, Miami itself and their resident fan uppers are a big part of what makes this team so unbearable. It just bolsters the feeling of phoniness surrounding the whole thing. Instead of competing against each other, they're just going win by default of talent and share the trophy every year (was that part of the plan not clear from LeBron's own words above?). And where were they going to found this contrived basketball monstrosity and unholy union? Miami, of course! The foundation laid there from the 2006 Finals, the 2000 election of NBA Championships. That was already Miami's legacy, long before LeBron ever uttered, "I'm taking my talents to South Beach." The only place where they throw themselves a pre-season championship parade, and apparently still don't understand why that's obnoxious, oy vey. To quote Red Auerbach:

"You're a bunch of bushers. That goes for the club, the fans, and all the writers... I come here today, and I see this -- it's ridiculous! What do you people think this is? Win a couple championships first, then talk about being the basketball capital of the world."

Maybe some day Miami, but right now, in the words of Red, you're a bunch of bushers.

David, you can try to spin it any way you like but your "arguments" are always going to be hollow because the nazgul are such incredible douchebags. People who have been following the NBA for at least a little while already know. There's a mountain of evidence.

All the cHeat fans and frontrunners already agree with you anyway. The media are preparing their regular bull crap sandwiches for everyone to consume.

What, you're not satisfied until it's unanimous throughout the universe that the cHeat did nothing wrong, are wonderful people and are to be loved and worshipped?

As expected they're all coming out of the woodwork now, they're expanding in to every crevice of the internets to preach about the cHeat. There is no sanctuary. Only Dallas can stop them.

Why does "they haven't broken any laws" always come up when discussing the Heat? Saying "he hasn't broken any laws" in defense of someone's character is like saying "it doesn't taste like poop" in defense of the taste of a food........

"He can score, he rebounds, he finds the open guy. He has the total package," Kidd said of his former Olympic teammate. "And, he's about 265 [pounds]. He's playing better than anybody right now. If I am in his way I just hope that he doesn't hurt me."

Needless to say if Bosh uttered those words about, say, Garnett, it would've been national news. Same goes for Terry's useless dunk at the end of that game a couple of nights ago. Wade did the same, yet everyone was acting like WWIII had started. Double standards, and just looking for reasons to hate and look cool "because everyone else hates them as well". Oh and since when does the gathering of a coule of stars automatically guarantee a Finals berth? Ask Kobe & Shaq, along with Payton & Malone how that turned out for them.

Oh and since when does the gathering of a coule of stars automatically guarantee a Finals berth? Ask Kobe & Shaq, along with Payton & Malone how that turned out for them.

Uh, that Laker team in fact made it to the Finals, but it was still a different animal than this. What the Heat have done and how is unprecedented, which should be acknowledged whether you love or hate them. Saying LeBron, Wade, and Bosh are just a "couple of stars" certainly isn't going to fly. As for their road to the Finals, it sure looked easy, didn't it? Every series in five games, as if the Celtics and Bulls couldn't give the Heat any more trouble than the Sixers. LeBron and Wade aren't even tired at the end of games, and if they are they just tag the other susperduperstar in, not to mention they have a skilled big that can go off for 30 and 10 any given night backing them up. Unstoppable, just like they envisioned. So yeah, like Bawful, I'm really glad this group of underdogs finally broke through after months of struggle.

Every time I see someone wear a #6 LeBron jersey, I feel like there are a bunch of guys in suits cackling maniacally in some boardroom. I can't think of any other jersey that's comes off as hollow as that one.

Sadly enough, I think Miami will win in six games, with LeBron James the Finals MVP.

Are you kidding? A guy saying "I hope he doesn't hurt me", in a throwaway quote, is the same as Bosh saying this (and I'm finding the actual quote now):

"C’mon, that is how guys get hurt, that is how serious injuries happen. You’ve got to watch people’s legs. I know guys want to hustle and everything but we all want to play and provide for our families and have a job. We all want to be healthy and that is very important. If it is by somebody’s leg, don’t dive for the ball, it’s too close."

Then you've got Bosh's "chill" quote, LeBron's "karma" tweet, etc. And yes, if Bosh said that about Garnett it would be national news because he set the precedent earlier this season (and earlier in his career if you want to take it further) that he's a giant pussy.

And you can never use the double standard defense because THE HEAT BROUGHT ALL OF THIS ON THEMSELVES. They wanted every set of eyes on them while they coasted to not one, not two, not three, not four, but a douchebag load of championships.

Terry's dunk was after the buzzer. Wades dunk caused a gambling line to be covered, literally swinging thousands and thousands of dollars. Kidd is a 38 year old point guard, Lebron James is an in prime physical specimen of ridiculous basketball proportions. Bosh is a PF of similar height and weight as KG. The comparison is not the same.

Apart from making for pretty good arguments, it doesn't really matter if anyone doesn't like the Heat.

So maybe Lebron is a douche. Or maybe everyone's just incredibly jealous because he could have joined their team and they'd be in the position of saying "well, the Cavs didn't put anything around him, so it was fair enough for him to take his talents to [place x] and play with [player x]."

Can we move on to actual finals debates anytime soon? Like can the Heat stop Dirk? Can the Mavs stop Lebron? Can anyone stop DeShawn Stevenson (getting another tattoo)?

@Wouter: do not compare two players that were past their prime who went to a winning franchise as a last resort to winning a championship and two players still very ripe in their prime who decided to take their talents to South Beach in order to create a dynasty. Very different things, therefore, different outcomes.

As for Stevenson, didn't he proclaim himself the LeBron stopper a few years back? In this one way I will be cheering for the Heat: I will laugh when LeBron destroys him. Make no mistake, LeBron remembers that too.

Which, BTW, may be Kidd's motivation. And Bron's for that matter (re: the Celtics). Expressing respect for "enemies" avoids the revenge game. How many times has Basketbawful ranked on some clown talking trash, and then the target of the trash talking lights it up? There's a shit ton of mcho pride in the NBA, and players HATE being pimped in the press. So, Kidd publicly respects Bron, Bron respects the Celtics, and enemies are less likely to go into God mode. QED, got nothing to do with sportsmanship.

TransINSANO: I try to have fun on this blog and rarely rage at people. But you just attacked by city as a whole, so you can piss off. Miami has just as much a right to enjoy great basketball as any other city in America. Who made you the guy who gets to decide which cities are allowed to experience sports joy?

Avoozl: I never said I wanted people to unanimously agree that the Heat did nothing wrong. I've been the first one to say that LeBron was a d!ck with the way he executed the decision.

My point has always been that the amount of hatred directed at this team is disproportionate to what they've actually done and said.

DougH: Miami holding a fan rally for the city was an act that we did for ourselves. In that environment, of course players are going to talk big talk, because they're doing it for the fans. It wasn't meant to hurt anyone. So yes, if people chose to be offended by it, that's their problem.

You guys, on the other hand, have personally attacked this franchise and everyone associated with it since the day the decision went down. So no, it's not just "my problem." I have every right to get defensive when my town and city is being constantly dragged through the mud in the blogosphere.

Look, I know Malone & Payton were past their primes, but the principle was still the same. Shaq & Kobe got beaten by the Spurs the years before after a 3-peat and Malone & Payton decided that team was the best chance they'd have to win a title. They could've easily signed somewhere else or stayed with their team and "fight for it on their own one last time", but they didn't. I just used that example to show that stars teaming up has happened numerous times in the past, and nobody ever said a word about it.

From a basketball point of view, and forgetting the way it happened (which granted, was a disaster), this should be applauded. You have 3 guys who had been playing their asses off for numerous years on crappy teams, who were free agents so they had every right to go wherever they wanted to, join forces and took less money for the sake of winning championships together. I've seen people here saying the fact they chose Miami makes it all seem even phonier: be honest, if you could choose between Cleveland and Miami, where would you rather live? I mean, I'm Belgian and even I would make that decision in a heartbeat. Plus, don't they pay less (or no) State taxes in Florida?

Every season we see good players on crap teams with hopeless contracts hoping to be bought out and join a championship caliber team on the fly, teams that sometimes have developed into a contender or who have been lucky staying injury free or missing that one last piece. In other words: jumping on the bandwagon. How can you say that is ok, while 3 players who are friends and want to play together, probably not even knowing for sure what pieces would be put around them in order to form an actual contender are being hated on every day of the week and scrutinized for everything they do? It's just crazy. These guys actually WANT to play together as a team. Coming from an era that had guys like Iverson, Francis, Marbury, etc..., players who could never put their ego aside for the sake of the team, we should be glad that concept is being brought back. Every single player on that roster knows his role and won't step out of it and the players are as close as any unit in the league. How is any of this bad?! 99% of the players in the league don't have the same mindset of being the absolute number 1 on their team as Michael Jordan, who everyone always compares them to, saying Jordan would've never done this. Wasn't he lucky enough the Bulls happened to draft a guy named Pippen? Wasn't he lucky they happened to trade for the best rebounder and defender of his age in Rodman? Same thing goes for Bird & Magic. They played on great teams already, they never had to leave. Unless you call landing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar a reason you should start looking at other teams. You name one other guy in this league who wouldn't have done the same as these guys given the opportunity. Kobe? Give me a break, dude was pretty much trying everything in his might to find a way out of LA that year they didn't make the playoffs because he didn't have enough help.

Answer this: how is LeBron, Wade & Bosh teaming up any different from a couple of the best (insert any profession here, let's say lawyers) lawyers who happen to be close friends joining a small firm in order to try take on their mighty former employerst? It's the way the world works. I work in a very small industry and it happens all the time. If we don't want it to happen, we might as well cancel free agency altogether.

One last thing: Terry was clearly going in for the dunk while time was running out. The fact that his dunk happened to be just after the buzzer does not change anything about his intentions or that it can't be compared to Wade's. And did someone really just say he shouldn't have done it because it covered a gambling line? What the hell? As a basketball fan, I couldn't care less about gambling lines, seriously!

Terry's dunk was after the buzzer. Wades dunk caused a gambling line to be covered, literally swinging thousands and thousands of dollars."

This is grasping for straws... the players and vast majority of viewers don't have any of that in mind, they are just celebrating their victory. If you are saying those acts are not comparable because Terry's didn't count by 0.1 seconds then thats just clearly trying to find arguments to hate on the Heat. I'm pretty sure Jason Terry wasn't being some gentleman compared to Wade by timing himself so accurately that his dunk was 0.1seconds after the clock went out on purpose so that bets wouldn't be effected...

It is possible to be a fan of a team and be objective. I've lived in Southern California my entire life and have been a Lakers fan since birth. While at the same time, I completely understand why everybody hates the Lakers; douchey bandwagoner celebrity fans, douchey regular fans, Kobe Bryant (fully deserving of his most hated in NBA status), the Pau Gasol trade, 2002 WCF, etc.etc...

If I was a homer, I'd just say, "Everybody hates the Lakers cause they win so much, they're just jealous". Sure, there are some people who hate the Lakers out of jealousy, but the vast majority of hate is well deserved and justified.

To Miami Heat fans: You are very fortunate to have those 3 players on your team. You will be strong title contenders for many years. That being said, your team is simply unbearable. From the “We had to make a sacrifice to play together”, to “Now the world is better that the Miami Heat is losing”, to just about everything Lebron does, your team is so unlikeable. Just like the hatred for the Lakers, the hate for your team is justified.

Look, you guys will probably win several titles in the next five years, so enjoy that, but don’t expect anybody to feel sorry for you or “understand” your team.

@David - Well, I wasn't expecting a, "yeah, you're probably right" to that one, but I'm just letting you know the Miami angle is a part of the problem, not just incidental. People wouldn't be so disgusted if they'd gone to New York or Chicago. Miami is "Hollywood as Hell" and it's not even really Hollywood, making it doubly inauthentic in every way, but that's also what makes it so perfect for this! The Nazgul might as well have chosen to play for the Gomora Sodomites. So, be happy, Miami, if you can't be the most loved, at least you can be the most hated, and that's a helluva lot better than being Cleveland.

@Anonymous - Everyone please stop with the rationalizing that the Miami Heat aren't the only "stars" to play together. It's an insult to the daring of what they actually did as well as to their status in the game. LeBron and Wade aren't just over the hill Payton and Malone types that agreed to play together or any other lame example you can think of; like Barkley and Pippen in Houston, the KG Celtics, or the false equivalency of Kobe wanting out of LA, which has nothing to do with teaming up with a rival anyway (this was guy that didn't want to play with Shaq because he thought it hurt his credibility, remember). LeBron and Wade also aren't just a couple of random All-Stars either, they're two all-timers, in their primes, vying for "best in the league" status at any given time. That's what made this so incredible, for better or worse. Even if you could find a player equivalency, like West and Baylor, or Wilt added, it's still not a similar situation; this is different because it was literally player free agency deciding. A comparable theoretical example would be like if Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and David Robinson purposefully teamed up in 1991 on some shitty expansion franchise like... well, the Miami Heat.

Actually, in the theoretical MJ/Barkley scenaro above, Olajuwon makes for a better comparison because of the 1984/2004 draft parallels. Three of the top five picks, including the first, from arguably the most loaded draft of all time teaming up in their primes! Obviously, that's a major factor in the negative perception surrounding the cHeat, and one that shouldn't be lost in all these would-be comparisons like Karl Malone's bum knee playing for the Lakers in his last season.

If you want to see something nauseating, go back and watch the end of game 5 from the 2006 finals. You'll notice a nice cozy symbiosis between the actions of Mike Breen at the mic and Bennett Salvatore with the whistle as they seek to establish the NBA's next cash cow. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyKPUfrpjaU

Breen wasn't as smooth yet and seems to have "company man" written all over him as he repeatedly informs us how we're watching the emergence of the NBA's next star, the amazing Dwayne Wade. Wade meanwhile is playing nice and relaxed because his defenders are terrified of even appearing to be close to him. And getting multiple phantom fouls, a 3rd year player, in the closing seconds of a pivotal finals game.

@Wouter: As transinsano points out, how frequent is this phenomenon? It is usually guys past their prime (Payton/Malone & Barkley/Pippen), and usually there's no collusion with the existing star to take a pay cut (Shaq/Kobe or Olajuwon/Drexler).

So the Bosh and James move to Miami coupled with Wade's taking a pay cut is unprecedented. It is totally new.

Now add to the mix the fact that this whole fiasco was obviously concocted months, and probably years, before it actually played out. Which, BTW, is entirely against the NBA rules, and against legally binding contracts. Whoops! That makes the Heatles law breakers as well, doesn't it? Just because Stern plays his games doesn't excuse the action, any more than Bennett violating the contract to take the Zombie Sonics to the middle of tornado alley.

This is not a typical free agency move, so let's not be insulting and act like it is, m'kay? That is totally independent of of what one thinks about the Heat, Riles, the superfriends, etc.

Oh, and sacrificing salary is a red herring: all three have seen a dramatic increase in endorsement deals which far outweighs any loss in salary, not even taking into account the lack of taxation in Florida. They all came out way ahead financially, which any half-assed agent would tell you from the get-go.

Be a Heat fan if you want. But if you need to be a Heat apologist, then get your fracking facts straight.

Somebody asked for serious discussion of the Finals, so here goes: coaches

Rick Carlisle has some male pattern baldness, and is dealing with it gracefully with the "close buzz," a cut that looks good with pattern baldness. The "close buzz" simultaneously avoids the stigma of everybody knowing that you a) are embarrassed by your hair, b) can't handle the loss of it emotionally, c) feel emasculated by hair loss and d) in denial of reality, thus trying to disguise hair loss with artful (or not-so-artful) rearrangement of hair. Carlisle's approach is generally considered a mature response to an undesirable but, for some of us, inevitable phenomenon.

Erik Spoelstra, on the other hand, has dealt with his receding hairline with an artfully mussed tousle up front. While ostensibly looking fashionable, pretty much anybody can detect the effort to disguise hair loss. It may also serve to disguise efforts at hair-loss treatment (plugs or the ugly chick down hair that usually results from Rogaine use). While we feel sympathy towards those with hair loss, we are repelled by somebody lacking the emotional maturity to accept their body as it is.

Advantage: Rick Carlisle

This message was approved by Charlie Villanueva. (Not really, but I have male pattern baldness comparable to Carlisle's. I have never resorted to treatments or pathetic disguises of my hair loss, and instead went to the close buzz quite early, at age 30.)

Hey, you can go ahead and hate LeBron and Wade and Kobe as much as you want! They are brands and not people. They constantly lie to you in their commercials and interviews. Nothing you know about those guys is real, it's like hating a character in a comic book. I do respect their games though, only Wade kinda sucks, he can't shoot and would have been a 15 ppg scorer in the nineties.

Wormy, its amazing the things that are obvious to you. You might remember that after their rookie contracts were up, LeBron, Wade and Carmelo all could have joined up too. Was that an obvious collusion that didn't pan out too?Even at the time LeBron and Wade made out their post rookie contracts to terminate at the same time, the analysis was obvious. They wanted to be out of their contracts so they could negotiate a new one before the CBA was up. You think Bosh or LeBron would have moved if they actually won something? There was doubt in Miami about Wade staying, or if he would move to his home town Chicago!Besides, if the best basketball player on the planet decides he wants to be on your team, you just hire him. It doesn't make the Heat organisation cheats. Maybe lucky.

Coz check out the roster and see who was available when LeBron joined. They didn't even have UD at that point! There has to be someone competent to play your spot when you're on the bench. There was no guarantees they would have any sort of competent team the first year, just three really good players.

And all you nut who think Miami isn't a basketball city so they don't deserve this should go take a flying leap. Spreading the game and getting more fans in new places is a GOOD thing. Why would you want to deny Miami the chance to become a Basketball city? A couple of championships and rabid fandom and Miami might be as much a basketball city as Boston, NY and LA.

Funny how people only point out a few random facts but don't answer the real questions.

@Wormboy: I was referring to players joining teams because of relationships they have with teams/staff/GMs/coaches on that team. What, just because these guys happen to be super talented, all of the sudden it's a crime? I'm talking about the principle here, because that's what most people are so angry (or jealous, whatever you want to call it) about. I mean, if I were a fan of another team and I saw this happening, I would be jealous as well, afraid even, because I'd know my team, barring a similar move, wouldn't have a shot at the title in the next couple of years. But hey, that's just the way dynasties work. This one happened through free agency, others happen through the draft and a few bandwagoners who have their ridiculous contracts bought out during the season.

And by the way, since I can't seem to get my fracking facts right, when Malone & Payton signed with the Lakers they were clearly not as old & decrepid as everyone makes them seem now. Unless you're all 12 years old and don't know what happened, there was a HUGE outrage because these guys could've gotten a lot more money in other places but instead signed for the minimum to hop on the Lakers bandwagon. But apparently not even a decade later, all is forgotten and ok "because they were old", even though Payton averaged 20-7-3 the year before and Malone 20-8-5. But hey, who's counting right?

On the "planning" of this whole thing: if that were the case, are you actually surprised that these guys, being good friends off the court and all, would actually dare talking to each other about that? *gasp* What has this world come to?! I can just see them having dinner on a certain evening and Bosh going "So guys, what are you planning on doing at the end of the season?", while the others are looking at him in fear and discomfort whilst quickly changing the subject just because they can't talk about it. I mean, I would never talk to my friends about a new job offer or the possibility of a couple of us joining the same company. My God, could you imagine the horror?

One last thing, and I can't even believe you brought up a lame argument like that: there is no denying they took a pay cut. Whether they make millions or even billions in endorsements doesn't even have anything to do with this. Otherwise, why the hell did Jordan sign that one year contract for $30 million in his last season with the Bulls? The man was a walking endorsement deal as it was, and still is. At the end of the day these players' contract is what they work for. It's their insurance, guaranteed money regardless of whether they get injured or not. Or do you think Nike would keep shoving millions in Lebron's or Wade's direction if they got an injury à la Penny Hardaway? The fact they took said pay cut allowed the Heat to sign other FA's, that's what this is all about. Again, I thought people on here were smarter than that.

@WORMBOY - why is there a problem if 3 players talked about joining a team? If the NBA has crap rules like this one, i have no problem with people disrespecting it. I mean honestly, if you and a couple of your friends have 3 openings at a big firm where and you can live together and enjoy life wouldn't you accept it? It's a crazy rule and its against human rights. They are under contract, they stay within their contract and when it expires they can do whatever the hell they want. I they are going to stop this migration of superstars they better come up with a better plan because that is crap.

I may have got the wrong end of the stick here, but are we arguing that a guy has to be at the end of his peak/borderline past it before it's ok for him to team up with other all-stars in order to win a last-gasp title? If so, was it not inevitable and smart for guys to team up earlier on when they'd have more than one shot?

@Wouter - You can't seem to get your fracking basic concepts right. Malone and Payton joined the Lakers on short term minimum deals at the end of their careers. Payton was 36 and Malone was 41(!). Neither was the same player they were with their previous teams; Malone retired after the season and Payton probably should have despite his ill-gotten ring nobody actually associates with his greatness. Even a 12 year old would see the difference between that and LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh deciding to join forces in their primes to found an instant long term superteam, creating an easy path to rack up championships and ultimately a dynasty. Most people here are smarter than that, though.

Anyway, if cHeat fanboys would stop hitting their heads against the wall trying to rationilze that what the Nazgul did wasn't radical, they could turn that fact around to argue it was daring, innovative, and revolutionary (cue Sid Vicious' cover of "My Way"). Which is what the romantic spin will ultimately be if they win multiple championships, inspire imitators, but, ya know, pervert basketball history as we know it by cheapening the meaning of championships; not only piggybacking one or two at the end of their careers, but by actually conspiring to piggyback a dynasty.

Dude, how many times? Of course it's different, my grandma can see that. It's the principle we're talking about here! Players joining up because they want to have a better chance at a championship. Again, Payton & Malone were old, yes, but they were far from done and barring that injury Malone got, he probably wouldn't have retired after that season. Also, how does 3 guys teaming up automatically equal a (or multiple) championship(s)? You need guys playing together, you need defense, you need specialists, etc, etc. How many people at the end of the season were saying they couldn't win because they were just 3 guys and a couple of broomsticks? It's incredulous what Heat haters will bring up just to bring their so-called point home. Anyway, Heat-Mavs: 1-0. Beat that, HeATERS.

"Now add to the mix the fact that this whole fiasco was obviously concocted months, and probably years, before it actually played out."

NOT a fact. Allegation.

@TransINSANO:

The year before he joined the Lakers, Karl Malone averaged 20-8-5. His failure with the Lakers was a consequence of the unforeseen implications and mistreatment of his knee injury.

The year before he joined the Lakers, Gary Payton averaged 20-4-8. His failure with the Lakers was a consequence of his (not entirely) unforeseen inability to fit into the triangle as well as a sudden and somewhat remarkable drop in athletic ability.

No, of course the situation with the Heat is not the same as this scenario. Wade and Bron are top-5 players in the league. Bosh (as were Malone, Payton, Allen, Pierce and Garnett) is a top-20 player. They're IN their primes as opposed to at the end or past, depending on who you ask.

We're not talking about guys who didn't try their hardest ::cough::Vince Carter::cough:: to win every night and who just waited out their contracts before trying once they were together. We're talking about guys who tried their damndest to win, realised they couldn't do it alone, so decided to play together. HOW is that worse than GMs trading fan favourites and all-round good guys, like Kendrick Perkins, for a boost? HOW is that worse than indefensibly trading Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown (which turned into Marc Gasol so all's well that ends well, eh)? HOW is that worse than spending ALMOST your entire career on a shitty team only to chase championships late? HOW is it worse than choosing to be the number 1 banana on a bad team over being number 2 on a good one? The "Heat are douchebags" argument is fine, but the "Heat are douchebags who've cheapened NBA championships and are a disgrace to the Art of Building Championship Dynasties" is just silly.

Ugh, wrote a huge reply that was lost to a site error. In a nutshell, you'll have to take the bad with the good, they'll get their rings, but on an individual level their value relative to the rings of other great players will be more scrutinized.